[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 15 (Monday, April 16, 2001)]
[Pages 597-602]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at Concord Middle School in Concord, North Carolina

April 11, 2001

    Thank you all very much. Okay. ``Dr. O,'' thank you for your 
hospitality. It's an honor to be here. I want to thank you all for 
coming. Before I talk about a subject dear to my heart, which is 
education, and before I recognize all the distinguished guests, I do 
want to say that right after my visit here, I am going to meet with the 
family of Petty Officer Third Class Steven Blocher.
    As you know, Steven is one of our 24 service men and women in China. 
I'm really looking forward to letting Steven's family know that we're in 
the process of bringing their son home. Steven grew up in Charlotte, and 
I know this entire Charlotte area and I know this entire community joins 
in looking forward to welcoming him home.
    I'm grateful for the opportunity to tell the Blochers how much 
America appreciates their son's patriotism and service to his country 
and how much we appreciate the service of our men and women in uniform 
throughout the world.
    Situations such as this remind us how much our military personnel 
and their families sacrifice for our freedom. It also reminds me, it's 
such an honor to be the Commander in Chief of such wonderful people.
    It's also an honor to be here in the great State of North Carolina. 
I've got a lot of friends here, and I'm grateful. It's also good to get 
out of Washington, DC, on a regular basis. It kind of reminds us that 
there is--it helps us stay in touch with reality. It's important to 
listen to people who are on the frontlines of making their communities a 
much better place. And there's no better place to listen and to say 
thanks than our schools all across America, where people are working 
their heart out to make a difference in the lives of our children. So 
first, I want to thank all the teachers who are here.
    I don't know if you know this--and I'm sorry the First Lady is not 
with us; she's heading down to Texas for the Easter break; I'm following 
shortly thereafter, I want you to know. [Laughter] One of her missions, 
besides making sure every child can read, is to remind folks about how 
important it is and what an important profession teaching is, that 
teaching is a noble profession, and that for the youngsters who are 
looking for something to do after college: Become a teacher. Or, for 
those who have just gotten out of the military: Become a teacher.
    We need good teachers in America. We need people to understand what 
an important job it is. So for those of you who are thinking about 
something to do when you get out of junior high, then high school, then 
college, give teaching a shot. It will not only change some child's 
life; it will change your life for the better, as well.
    It's good to see Phil Kirk. Phil, thank you very much. I was honored 
to be escorted around the school by a man I proudly called ``Mr. 
President,'' Graham Boone. I appreciate Senator Edwards being here. 
Senator,

[[Page 598]]

it's good to see you, sir. I appreciate Congressman Hayes. I can assure 
you, on the ride in from the airport, he gave me a full briefing--
[laughter]--about every single aspect of this community. He pointed out 
every NASCAR garage, and every four-lane highway that needed to be 
expanded. [Laughter]
    Congressmen Coble, Ballenger, and Taylor are also here. I want to 
thank you all for coming, and I appreciate your loyal support. I guess 
when the President shows up, all kinds of elected officials come, and I 
appreciate your coming. The mayors, the mayor of Charlotte and the mayor 
of Concord, I want to thank you both for being here, as well.
    It's good to see Mike Ward again. I saw Mike just the other day. 
Thank you, Mike. And it's good to have members of the statehouse, the 
speaker and the leader of the Senate, on both sides of the aisle. It 
reminds me, seeing both Republicans and Democrats from the statehouse 
here, that when it comes to education, there really isn't--there isn't a 
need for partisan bickering. When it comes to the education of the 
children, it is right for people of both parties to come together and 
figure out how to get the job done. And that's what's happened here.
    I know that's what's happened here in North Carolina. It also 
happened in the State of Texas when I was the Governor--that we said 
we'll have our time for political bickering, but when it comes to 
important issues like education, we'll set aside political bickering and 
focus on the children. And as a result of people from both parties being 
able to work together in our respective States, North Carolina and Texas 
have made great progress.
    I know that some other States don't like to hear this, but at one 
point in time, the National Education Goals Panel analyzed which of the 
States in the United States were making the greatest gains on student 
achievement. And it turned out our States were, North Carolina and 
Texas. And I attribute that to the fact that people from both political 
parties were willing to work together--something Washington, DC, needs 
more of, by the way. We need less name-calling and finger-pointing and 
more focus on what's right for America. And a good place to start is 
when it comes to the education of our children.
    Now, there's another reason why our States did well. It's because we 
adopted a philosophy that makes sense. It starts with setting high 
expectations for every child. Ours are States that have said every child 
can learn. We're not one of these States that said, some of the children 
can learn; or, maybe a handful of the children can learn. We started 
with the philosophy that every child can learn, and that's the right 
attitude to take. And also a philosophy that said we're going to set 
high standards for every child--not high standards for suburbia, or high 
standards for inner city--high standards for every child is part of our 
political philosophy.
    Oh, I know there are difficult circumstances. But that is not an 
excuse to lower standards. You see, if you lower standards, you get 
lower results. If you set the bar low, you're going to get results that 
are not satisfactory for having a tomorrow that we want for every child. 
So the first part of our common philosophy says, we're going to set high 
standards and high expectations and believe that every child can learn.
    Secondly, our States believe in local control of schools. That's 
something the Federal Government needs to learn. It needs to learn to 
trust the people of North Carolina when it comes to running the schools 
of North Carolina. This idea of Washington making decisions on behalf of 
the people of North Carolina has got to end, in order to make sure that 
every child gets educated in America.
    One of the things I look forward to working with the Congress on is 
to explain to those who don't quite understand that all knowledge 
doesn't exist in Washington; that in order to have excellence in our 
schools, we've got to trust local people. And I mean we need to pass 
power out of Washington, DC, to empower the Governors and local school 
boards to make the right decisions for the children in their respective 
States, because one size does not fit all when it comes to the education 
of the American children.
    And finally, the cornerstone of reform for North Carolina and for 
Texas and for other States is the willingness of our States to

[[Page 599]]

measure--is to say, accountability is an incredibly important part of 
educational excellence. Now, in your State of North Carolina, you 
measure three through eight. In my State of Texas, we do the same thing. 
And that's exactly the cornerstone of reform necessary. Do you know why? 
Because if you do not measure, you do not know whether or not children 
are learning. And if you don't know, it's likely certain children will 
be moved just right through the system.
    It's so easy to quit on certain children. It's so easy to quit on 
children whose parents may not speak English as a first language. It's 
so easy to quit on a child; you take a look and say, ``This child is too 
hard to educate, so we'll just move him or her through.'' That is 
unacceptable to me. I know it's unacceptable to you, and it needs to be 
unacceptable to all Americans. Every child matters; every child can be 
educated; and we must quit this business of just simply giving up on 
children early, before it's too late.
    And the structural reform necessary to make sure that doesn't happen 
is to measure, is to say--ask ourselves: Can a child read at grade 
level, say, by the third grade? And if we find out the answer is no, 
then do something about it early, before it's too late. I strongly 
believe in accountability.
    In the budget I submitted to the Congress--one which one body of the 
House listened to pretty carefully, and one body of the Congress 
listened to carefully, and the other decided, well, they're going to 
listen to some of it, but they decided to increase the size and scope of 
the Federal Government--we put a lot of money in for public education.
    The biggest increase of any Department was for public education. We 
increased the size of the reading initiative by threefold. Because I 
understand that reading is the gateway to knowledge--and that's nothing 
new; all Members of Congress understand that--I did want there to be a 
priority in the budget for reading. They said, ``If the States wants to 
access Federal money, you should be able to do so, but make sure you 
have K-through-2 diagnostic tools available so that we can have 
meaningful early childhood reading initiatives; make sure you understand 
that if the curriculum doesn't work, that you're bold enough to change 
it, and therefore, access some of the money to train teachers on 
curriculum that do work; make sure that you have intensive reading 
academies so that no child gets left behind when it comes to reading.''
    We've tripled the amount of money for States, if they so choose to 
use that, because--I know this is obvious, unfortunately sometimes--but 
it reflects reality, and it reflects some of the problems we have that 
if you can't read, you can't learn other subjects. And unfortunately, 
too many of our children can't read. I'm a first-things-first person. 
Let's get the reading right, and I'm confident the math and science will 
follow thereafter. I do know if they can't read, it's going to be hard 
to master science. So there's the focus on reading. And I know your 
State will take advantage of the Federal monies if I can get it passed 
out of the Congress--I think we're going to, by the way--to make sure 
every child learns to read in your great State.
    Secondly, it's one thing to teach a child to read and write, but in 
order to make sure education is full and complete, we also must teach 
our children right from wrong. We triple the amount of money in the 
budget for character education programs. We should not be afraid to 
teach children what's right and what's wrong. And we should not be 
afraid in our society to teach children the values which have stood the 
test of time: Don't lie, cheat, and steal; honor thy parents; show 
respect; be responsible for the decisions you make in life. And I also 
believe that, along those lines, we ought not to be afraid to teach 
abstinence to our children. So I've increased abstinence funding in the 
budget, as well.
    Now, we increase spending. Now, there's some hollering we didn't 
increase it enough and some saying too much, and of course, imagine the 
President thinks it's just right. But it's one thing to spend money, but 
it's another thing to make sure the systems work, too.
    As you know, particularly in your State, there's more than just 
spending money to education. It is important to get it right. And that's 
why I urge the Congress to hear the message of accountability and local 
control.

[[Page 600]]

    Part of the reform package that is being debated in the Senate and 
the House is to pass power out of Washington, is the best way to put it; 
is to make sure the Federal money that is spent, is not so tied up that 
local folks can't use it to meet their own specific needs; is to trust 
the local people. It's an inherent principle of good public policy in 
Washington: Always remember to trust the local people. Why? Because 
government closer to the people is that which is most responsive. The 
government which get far away from the people sometimes doesn't hear the 
real voice, doesn't respond, may get caught up in special interests or 
the folks that surround the Nation's Capital.
    And so we've got to trust people. And so inherent in the plan is to 
say to the Congress, ``Work with us to pass power out of Washington. And 
let's not be afraid to do so.'' And I think we're making good progress 
on that. I think many of the Members of the Congress and the Senate 
understand that principle.
    And I'm asking Congress to say, ``If you receive Federal money, you 
must develop an accountability system like North Carolina has done.'' In 
return for taxpayers' money, to me it makes sense to ask the question, 
what are the results? If you receive Title I money in the State around 
the country--in one of our States in our country, you've got to measure. 
You've got to show us. I don't believe there ought to be a national 
test. I strongly resist a national test. A national test would undermine 
the development of local curriculum, for example. A national test could 
really mean the National Government ends up running--begins to dictate 
policies for our schools, and that's not right.
    But I think it's responsible and wise and appropriate to say that if 
you receive help from the Federal Government, you develop an 
accountability system. And you measure. And you disaggregate results; 
you don't lump people into groups so we don't know. Each child matters. 
You see, it is incredibly important for this country to change our 
mentality about education. Instead of asking the question, how old are 
you, we need to start asking the question, what do you know?
    Instead of saying, ``Oh, you're 10, and you go here; and you're 12, 
you go here; or you're 16, we'll just put you here''--it's time for this 
country, all across the land, to start asking the question, what do you 
know? And if you don't know what you're supposed to know, we'll make 
sure you do early, before it's too late. That's what accountability will 
do for our country. It begins to change the mentality.
    It recognizes you can't correct problems unless you know there is a 
problem. And so I hope the Members of the House and the Members of the 
Senate do not blink when it comes to insisting that local jurisdictions 
develop strong accountability systems. It's so important. It's so 
important if we want to make sure that no child gets left behind.
    And by the way, in order for there to be accountability that works, 
there must be a consequence for success, and a consequence for failure. 
There is no such thing as an accountability system unless something 
happens with success and failure. I believe we ought to reward success, 
and I believe, after a reasonable period of time, if a school will not 
teach and it will not change, something else must happen. And we're 
having a big debate on what the something else is in the Nation's 
Capital. There's a big debate on that.
    But one thing is for certain: I will not accept a plan that accepts 
failure, because our children are too important. One thing is for 
certain: People must be given different options if their children are in 
schools that simply won't adjust. It's time for us to have strong 
accountability measures and local control in our schools.
    People talk about parental involvement. All of us are for parental 
involvement, of course. It will make the teachers' job so much easier 
when parents get involved. But there's nothing like parental involvement 
when we start posting scores on the Internet. There's nothing like 
parental involvement when we break down accountability on a child-per-
child basis. There's nothing like getting a mother fired up when she 
sees the fact that her school may not be performing quite like she 
thought it was going to be. Accountability is not only good for the 
children; it's good for parents, as well.
    And it turns out it's good for schools. It's good for schools. It's 
good to know. It's good to know whether a curriculum is working or

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not. It's good to know whether the methodology that's being used within 
the classrooms makes sense. It's good to know.
    And when we start to measure, we're going to start saying for 
certain, every child matters in America. And when we start to correct--
when we start to correct, we're going to make certain that every child 
is educated, and our country is going to be better off for it.
    There's a lot of things I want to do in Washington. As you know, I'm 
committed to making sure that once we meet our priorities, that our 
Government always remembers who funds the Government; that it's not the 
Federal Government's money; it's the people's money.
    We're making progress. Oh, some folks are kicking and screaming, but 
we're making some progress toward remembering whose money it is. But 
we're making good progress on education, as well, and I'm grateful. I'm 
grateful when a President Bush can sit down with a Senator Kennedy and 
have a meaningful, real dialog on what's right for the country. I'm 
grateful for that.
    One of my missions was to try to change the tone of Washington. You 
see, Washington is zero-sum game up there. There are people up there 
that say, ``We can't support this because it means somebody wins and, 
therefore, somebody loses.'' It means that we're not focused on the 
right reason, the reason we're there as people. And we may have a 
disagreement, but we've got to get rid of the zero-sum politics that 
dominates the discourse in our Nation's Capital. We're there to serve.
    And the best way to convince people to serve is to change the tone 
from one of suspicion to respect. And as you can imagine, Senator 
Kennedy and I don't get along on a lot of issues, but we get along--I 
respect him as a person. I respect his professionalism. And I respect 
the fact that he's willing to sit down and see if my office and me, we 
can't work out differences that may exist when it comes to educating 
children. It's a good step in the right direction.
    I think the tone in Washington is beginning to change for the 
better. I know we're beginning to have a new culture of accomplishment 
take hold, that instead of everybody focusing on process and who's 
saying what about who, that we're beginning to focus on results.
    I want this country to be a results-oriented country, starting at 
the national level. We ought to be focusing on results--particularly 
when it comes to education of children. And if they're good, let's 
praise everybody. And if they're bad, let's praise them, but let's fix 
it. So we're making progress in the Nation's Capital.
    And finally, I think I'm making pretty good progress--I hope I am--
on convincing people that it's not only important to educate our 
children; it's important to welcome faith-based and community-based 
programs and to stay-after-school programs, so that children understand 
that somebody loves them and somebody cares. That is so important.
    I think we're making pretty good progress on the so-called Faith-
Based Initiative, that makes it clear that government is limited. I 
mean, government can't make people love one another. If it could, I'm 
sure that Senator Edwards would sponsor it, and I would sign it if we 
could figure out how to do that.
    But the role of government is limited. Oh sure, we can fund and we 
can tax and maybe not tax so much. And of course, we can keep the peace. 
But what government cannot do is cause people to love one another. What 
government cannot do is to understand the great power of faith and 
concern and love. We can rally faith and concern and love; we can 
encourage programs based upon faith, concern, and love, and we must. But 
we can't make people love one another. That comes from institutions that 
rely upon a greater power; that comes from churches and synagogues and 
mosques. It comes from mentoring programs based upon the idea of some 
soul, some good, decent American saying, ``What can I do to help make my 
society a better place?''
    I love coming outside the Nation's Capital, because it gives me a 
chance to see Americans line the road, saluting the institution of the 
Presidency as I drive by. And it reminds me every time, every trip, that 
the strength of this country lies not in the halls of our Government; 
the strength of this country lies in the hearts and souls of the 
citizens of the greatest land on the face of the Earth.

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    I think we're making progress. We understand where the power of this 
country lays. It lays in the hearts and souls of Americans. It must lay 
in our pocketbooks. It lays in the willingness for people to work hard. 
But as importantly, it lays in the fact that we've got citizens from all 
walks of life, all political parties, that are willing to say, ``I want 
to love my neighbor. I want to make somebody's life just a little bit 
better.'' And for those of you who are doing that, I thank you from the 
bottom of my heart.
     And thank you for your warm welcome, and God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 11:55 a.m. in the gymnasium. In his 
remarks, he referred to Austin Obasohan, principal, and Graham Boone, 
student council president, Concord Middle School; Phillip J. Kirk, Jr., 
chairman North Carolina State Board of Education; Mayor Patrick McCrory 
of Charlotte, NC; Mayor George W. Liles of Concord; Michael E. Ward, 
superintendent, North Carolina Public Schools; and Speaker of the House 
James B. Black and Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight, North 
Carolina State Assembly. The President also referred to Title I of the 
Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 (Public Law No. 103-382), which 
amended Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(Public Law No. 89-10).